patchwork
by tatty ted
Summary: Evie Johnson left London for a brand new adventure. Now she's turned up in Holby, the place she believes will be the adventure she's desperately craving in life. However, Evie's first shift isn't as easy as she hoped and she comes to the important conclusion that family is more important than she first realised. - —OC.
1. i

_set during episode one/two of series 18._

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patchwork

"I'm here to see Mr Harper." I said to the blonde receptionist behind the desk. She was reading a magazine and the cheeky cow didn't even make eye contact with me as she told me to take a seat. Annoyed at her rudeness, I shook my head and took a seat in the already packed waiting room.

I crossed one leg over the other, my handbag on my lap and I took out my mobile phone. Holding down the red telephone key, the phone switched off and I put it back in my bag. The last thing I wanted was my phone to ring during the meeting.

Ever since I was a young girl, I had always wanted to 'save' people. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a Doctor or a Nurse, truthfully, I thought a bit too thick to be a Doctor. However, I excelled at everything, GCSE's, A-Levels, my degree.

I'd been to one hospital prior to this, West Middlesex University Hospital. I loved the buzz of the department but after a while, I wanted a new challenge, hence the reason I applied for the position at Holby City Hospital.

It was a hard decision to make, especially as all my friends and family were in West London. They thought I was crazy to move to a place I didn't know anyone but sometimes, you've got to go with the flow right?

It was even harder for my son Matthew, he'd be going to pre-school for years and now, aged two years and four months; I was unsettling him for my own needs.

Luckily, he had settled into the new routine quickly.

Seeing the rush of the hospital, I felt a sense of excitement. It was at that very moment that Mr Harper came downstairs and walked towards the front desk. He said something to the receptionist and she looked at me. With a smile, he walked towards me.

"I believe you're Evie Johnson, new Senior House Officer."

I nodded my head, stood up and shook his hand as he introduced himself, "Harry Harper, Consultant."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." I answered. He asked me to follow him and I was about to until the receptionist called him back again.

"Sorry about this, I won't be a moment."

I nodded slowly as I watched him walk towards the receptionist and a nurse who was on the telephone. I just stood there, looking around the hospital wondering what to do. After a couple of minutes, he came back towards me.

"I'm afraid we're in the middle of a Majax."

"A Major accident? I should've guessed my first shift wouldn't be as easy as I hoped." I answered back with a small laugh.

"Have you been involved in one before?"

I followed him through the hospital as I replied; "About six months whilst in London. There was a motorway crash involving three lorries; two coaches full with children and several vehicles. There must have been forty-plus people injured. Unfortunately, we lost three including two children."

We got to the staff-room and he went through everything with me. He asked me if I'd be okay and I nodded, said us Doctors could do anything and he smiled. He told me where the scrubs were kept and then he left. I walked over to wear the scrubs were kept, put them on and took a deep breath.

Talk about being thrown in at the deep end on your first shift.

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**a/n**: if you like it enough to favourite/alert, please leave a review.


	2. ii

_right so casualty fans will definitely remember this scene, except evie's dialogue is simon's dialogue with a few added lines. i cut him out because i didn't like him very much :3_

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chapter two

It was horrible, just walking around waiting, wondering how an earth you were going to cope. I was ten times more nervous because I'd never even met the team, except Harry of course. In a way I had to prove I was capable of handling such pressure.

I stood outside Resus, pratically twiddling my thumbs waiting for the first ambulance to arrive.

It did. A young boy, no age given but couldn't be more than eight; with a tension pneumothorax. A chest drain had already been inserted at the scene.

"Pulse 150, BP 75 systolic, Resp 40." Roxanne said.

"Let's get an underwater seal and a chest drain, another line in and 400 mls of Saline." Harry told us.

Great! Now I had to insert a chest drain. I cut into the chest wall, two centimetres away and with the tip of my finger, I sweeped the adherent lung away and inserted the drain into the pleural cavity and slid it into position.

Then, I connected the underwater seal to the drain and sealed up the puncture site. However it wasn't working, he was definitely getting worse. Harry said he had a cardiac tamponade and wanted to do a procedure called pericardiocentesis, which involved removing the fluid by a needle.

I suggested doing a phlebotomy if it didn't work but he said no, if the procedure didn't work then we'd have to let him go.

"He's just a kid." Roxanne told Harry and I agreed.

"It's got to be worth a shot surely?"

"Come on guys, you know the score. In thirty minutes this place will be heaving. Now, we'll save the ones we can but there is no point in wasting time on casualties that have little or no chance of survival."

"When do we decide which patients are worth saving?"

He just looked at me and told me because he was the only one capable of carrying out such a procedure, it was his decision and if a pericardiocentesis didn't work then he was calling it. I actually wanted to call her a few rude words but instead, I walked off to another patient that had come in.

I'd literally walked over to the patient when I heard the beeping of the monitor. I quickly went back over to the little boy and asked Harry what had happened. As Roxanne put the gel pads on him and I picked up the defibrillator pads.

"Charging, stand clear."

"Shocking." I said and shocked him.

Nothing happened and I prayed that the little boy would live.

"Shocking at 50, stand clear, shocking."

Nothing.

"Let's try one more time." Harry answered.

"Charge to 100 please, stand clear, shocking." I hoped this time his heart would start beating again. The sound of a heartbeat on the monitor made me sigh in relief and I put the pads back on the defibrillator.

I told myself that I wasn't going to lose a patient today, I'd try my hardest to do all I could for them, however busy we were.

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**a/n**: if you like it enough to favourite/alert, please leave me a review.  
>how's the medical terminology going? it's probably wrong like but i'm not a doctor :3<p> 


	3. iii

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chapter three

It was definitely easier said than done. I lost a patient, a young woman with severe head and facial injuries. I had a bit of a barny with Harry because I hadn't checked her x-ray results. As he so kindly put it, if I had; I wouldn't have wasted time trying to save someone.

Then again, I thought we tried to do our best for a patient?

Obviously not tonight. If we don't feel we can save them, we'll just leave them to die. Harsh but there's no point in questioning his judgement. He's the master of your destiny after all, not that I have a clue what that's all about.

Then, I had to break the news to the girl's mother that we tried everything we could for her. I hate that part of my job, telling a mother/father that their child won't be coming home. No matter how long you've worked as a Doctor, it doesn't get easier.

If that wasn't hard enough; it turned out it wasn't the young girl who's mother who I had just told. Her daughter was alive, it was her daughter's girlfriend who'd been the victim in the train crash. That stupid Nurse!

Obviously, I had it out with her, how could I not? She made me look like a right div. After I'd calmed down, I apologised. It was only fair. Okay, she made a mistake by contacting the family directly but I had no right to say what I said.

I took a break and grabbed a coffee. I needed the energy that's for sure. I was only away for five minutes, the television off because I couldn't bare to watch the news. It was hard enough to keep your emotions in check whilst dealing with the patients.

It didn't get any easier, I lost a further three patients. A fireman who was in the tunnel whilst it collapsed, a middle-aged woman and an old man. Losing a patient didn't get any easier either. You still feel emotional that you couldn't save their life.

After overseeing a procedure in Resus, Roxanne came to tell me that the Australian Doctor, Jim I think he was called wanted a chest drain inserted in the be told, I thought he was crazy but I left Resus anyway and inserted my second chest drain of the day.

"Good work." He told me and I smiled slightly, "Thanks."

The hours passed in a mixture of blood and tears, quite literally. I'd lost another patient, a teenage girl this time. After a called the time of death, I took off my gloves, threw them away and washed my hands.

"Take a break, you look exhausted."

"I'm fine honestly." I answered but I was told it wasn't a debate, it was an order. I sighed, agreed to take a break and walked out of Resus, heading to the staff room.

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**a/n**: if you like it enough to favourite/alert, please leave.  
>not many chapters left, i'd say another one. supposed to be a short story :3<p> 


	4. iv

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chapter four.

I reached the staff-room, walked inside and went over to my locker. I took my mobile phone out of my bag and put it in my pocket. I made a coffee, walked over to the sofa and sat down, taking out both a photograph and my mobile phone.

The photograph was of my husband and my son Matthew. My husband and I had separated a couple of months ago, it was one of the reasons why I moved away as the split had been bad. Neither of us had yet thought about divorcing.

Although we had split up, it didn't stop me caring for him. After all, he was the father of our son.

However, sitting here tonight, in this mess, I realised something. I realised I still loved him. Finishing my coffee, I placed the cup in the sink and left, shoving the photograph in my pocket. As no-one had paged me yet and Resus wasn't as manic as earlier; I decided to write my resignation.

I was probably crazy for doing it but being around people who'd lost a loved one made me realise just how much my family meant to me. And I was willing to sacrifice my career for a family life. You only had one life and there was no point in regretting stuff or thinking about what if. Life's too short.

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I knocked on Mr Harper's door to hear a faint come in, so I opened the door.

"Here's my resignation." I said with a small smile as I walked towards his desk and dropped the letter on it.

"Why?" He asked and I sighed, "You know been around people who lost a loved one today made me realise being successful isn't everything in life. It made me think about getting back with my husband, being with my son, just living life every day before something happens to make us regret the chances we never took in life."

I looked at the envelope and looked back at Harry, "And I'm starting with this. Don't get me wrong, I love being a Doctor and 'saving' people and I loved being part of your team for a day but I just feel like I have to do this to be truly happy and not regret anything."

He smiled sadly although he told me how great I was under pressure today, how I managed to fit in with the team despite not knowing anyone. He mentioned it would be a shame not to have me on the team as I was a truly great Doctor.

I smiled sadly, "Goodbye Harry."

"Goodbye Evie." He answered and I smiled sadly, pulled open the door and stepped outside. I closed the door behind me, looked back and made eye contact with him for a minute before I walked down the corridor.

Sometimes it takes a tragedy for us to realise, how important some people are to us.

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**a/n**: if you like it enough to favourite, please leave a review. tar :3  
>this is probably the cheesiest ending in history, and the worst thing i've ever written.<p> 


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